Into The Crosshairs
by Andrew H. Coel
Summary: A seemingly unrelated character makes a hit in a nightclub. A rather gruesome one at that. What does this death mean for Tenchi and Crew?...
1. Default Chapter Title

(1. Andrew H. Coel   
2. Fullcircle420@aol.com  
3. Into The Crosshairs:Introduction: A View To A Killer  
4. Regular Fan Fiction  
5. A seemingly unrelated character makes a hit in a nightclub. A rather gruesome one at that. What does this death mean for Tenchi and Crew?...)   
OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Tenchi Muyo!. I just added them into my story to add plot. They are owned by Pioneer and AIC. I am not looking for a lawsuit, so don't sue me. Thank you. And now...  
  
Introduction-A View to a Killer  
  
The smell of marijuana smoke and perspiration flooded Seaguar Haphin's nose as he entered the dark nightclub. The smoke from the reefers instantly reminded him of his younger days. Damn, he though, wish I could still get a buzz off that stuff. Just as his mind started to wander, a large, thick armed man stopped him in the lobby before the main room of the club.   
"Got a reason for coming here?" the bouncer said in a non-questioning tone.  
"You got a reason for stopping me from entering?"  
"I see a scar, I don't like scars,'' said the bouncer, looking towards the scar running from the back of Haphin's jaw bone down along the back of his neck.  
"Why not?" Seaguar said, genuinely curious.  
"Cuz scars might mean you do some fighting, and if you start to scrap, then that means ill have to get my hands dirty prying you off someone."  
"Well, the scar was from a motorcycle accident, and I haven't gotten into a real fight since high school." Both of these statements were lies, because the scar was from a pissed acquaintance to one of Haphin's "clients" that was wielding a high energy knife and didn't like the fact that Haphin had popped his friend, and he never got in any fights in high school, just afterwards.  
"Hmmm," hummed the bouncer as he seemed to think. "Fine then, you're in, but if you fight, I swear, ill kick your ass so hard..."  
Seaguar never heard the end of the sentence, for he was inside before the bouncer could finish. He had to admire his down right cunning ability to keep the guard talking so he wouldn't do a frisk. That would ruin a lot of things for a lot of people if his dual pistols were found.  
As he made his way through the crowd of people, he pulled off the layer of fake skin underneath his eye, revealing six tiny, neatly tattooed tears in a cluster on the upper inside of his right eye.   
The flashing strobe lights and the waving bodies of dancers almost cloaked the door Seaguar was looking for. The door read in white letters EMPLOYEES ONLY-KEEP OUT. Ignoring the sign, Seaguar turned the knob and gave a slight push on the door. The door gave with little resistance. The room that he entered was dimly lit with only a single light hanging from the ceiling. A small stairway lead up a story into a brightly lit hallway. All of a sudden, Seaguar's attention was focused on a man with a gun pointed at him at a desk next to the doorway.  
"Do you read signs?"  
Ignoring the question, Seaguar said in a low voice, "I need to see the head of the club, something's up with a delivery he made for alcohol. I need to have his and only his signature and an approved liquor license."  
"Got any credentials to prove who you are?" the man said, not letting the gun budge from it's target.  
"I am off duty right now, I just though I'd swing by to clear this up before the delivery is made."  
The man seemed to think for a moment, much like the bouncer had a little while before. "Well, I think the boss is busy. And if he is busy, he doesn't like to be disturbed."  
"Why don't you go check if he's busy?''  
"Why don't you go to hell, you stupid prick. The boss don't like to see people like you making his joint look bad. Here, go have some fun," the man said and threw Seaguar a handful of change from his desk. The man quickly laughed at his own joke, lowering his gun just a tad, just out of the line of fire.  
Seaguar acted with uncanny speed, quickly unholstering one of his small silenced blaster pistols. Without a moment of hesitation, he pulled the trigger on the small gun, sending a blue flash of light at the man at the desk's head. The charge hit just below the left eye, making a clean hole right through the back of the man's head. The heat from the blast had made the man's eye explode, shooting tiny drops of clear puss around the room. A small splatter mark of blood stained the wall, and more came pouring down the man's cheek. Not a full head shot, Seaguar though in his head, but a lethal one. He then began ascending the steps to a room above where muffled talk could be heard while the man behind the desk's head fell on to his own lap and slowly became engulfed in a pool of his own blood.  
Two doors down from the stairway was the source of the talking. Seaguar walked quietly to it and pressed his ear to the door to listen in on the conversation. He then dug in his pocket for a picture of the man he hoped to find on the other side. After a second or two, he pulled the picture out and studied it for a moment. He read the type on the bottom of the picture, "NAME: Henry Wickerman, CLASS: Dangerous, possibly armed, TYPE: Aln 5, Power: 1700 (max). Dangerous, he thought quickly, better take it sort of carefully. The way the guy out front greeted me, he is probably worse.  
Turning the knob on the door seemed to shut everyone up in the room. As Seaguar stepped inside, a man's voice bellowed, "Don't you know how to kno-Who the hell are you?"  
Seaguar looked at the two men in the room and said, "I need to see Mr. Wickerman alone."  
The man in the photograph that Seaguar had turned around to acknowledge Seaguar's presence.   
"What the hell do you want," he said in a big shot type of way.  
"I need to see you, now".  
"What do you think you own the place, you think you can jus-," Seaguar cut him off.  
"If you do not choose to see me, then I will have to force you to," Seaguar said in his most calm voice.  
"Uh-oh," said Wickerman sarcastically, "we got a tough guy on our hands."  
The other man at the table piped up, "I wouldn't mess with him, boss."  
"Why not, he doesn't look so big."  
"Boss, I've seen those tear drop tattoos before. Trust me, if he's got that many, don't-"  
Wickerman, as if he had just noticed the tattoos, suddenly went wide-eyed and muttered, fear clearly in his voice, "Oh, shit."  
At that exact second, both of Seaguar's hands went right to his shoulder holsters. The small gun coming up first and shooting first, hitting right below Wickerman's chin, leaving a clean wound, then the second, larger blaster pistol came up right behind in, hitting just left of the first wound, destroying one side of Wickerman's neck. Wickerman's hand came up to grab the remains of his neck before flopping over on the table in front of him.  
Putting the guns back into their respective holsters, Seaguar walked to where Wickerman lay and reached into the bloody, ragged skin of his severed neck and grabbed on to a small metal football shaped device with many wires sticking out of one side. The man in the other chair was stiff with fear, and was past speechlessness. Seaguar dug in his pocket for a small veil and stuck the metal object into it. The veil sealed and Seaguar placed it into his pocket. He shot a glance at the petrified man across the table.  
"I'm sorry to put you through something like this, but it was my job, and you were at the wrong place at the wrong time," Seaguar said in a calm voice, "Be sure to have yourself a nice evening," he said and he strolled out the door.  
On his way into the chaos of the dance floor, he found the body of the man at the desk. Seaguar looked at him, reached in his pocket and said mockingly, "I had my fun, you keep the change," and walked out, never to be seen by any of the people in that club again.  
  
Yup, well that's the intro to the story. No Tenchi and crew yet, but they will come. But you must ask, who is this evil person? Is Tenchi and the gang next on his hit list? Looks like you have to read on! I must warn you now though, if you got through this whole chapter and still expect a love story with Tenchi and Ryoko/Ayeka, don't count on it. That's for the sequel (opps!). But if you did like this, read on. I'll put the next chapters up when I finish them. I'll put time line stuff and other things on the next one, since there is no Tenchi or anyone in this story yet. Send all questions, comments, and criticisms to Fullcircle420@aol.com. P.S., identify the mail if you send it so I don't think its porn or other spam. Thank you and read on.   



	2. Default Chapter Title

(1. Andrew H. Coel   
2. Fullcircle420@aol.com  
3. Into The Crosshairs: Chapter 1  
4. Regular Fan Fiction  
5. Something happens to Ayeka when she goes out for errands...)  
  
OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Tenchi Muyo!. I just added them into my story to add plot. They are owned by Pioneer and AIC. I am not looking for a lawsuit, so don't sue me. Thank you.   
  
This is my first attempt at a Tenchi fan fic, but I won't whine and say don't be harsh. Tell me EXACTLY what you think of it so I can make my next ones better. The grammar might be a little much, but I like looking smart.   
  
This story is set after the OAV's, but before Daughter of Darkness, because I haven't seen DoD yet, and I have no idea what Mayuka's character is like. So enough with this stuff, time for Tenchi.  
  
And now...  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The day was cold and blustery when Tenchi left school that day. The sun was closing in on the horizon earlier and earlier everyday as the impending winter drew closer. He hurriedly walked down the stairs of the large brick building as the familiar dismissal bells chimed above. Tenchi shivered as the wind blew right through his cotton sweater.  
The walk home was a nice one, for Tenchi was sheltered from the wind by the tall trees lining the street. The colors of fall were out in full force. This was one of Tenchi's favorite seasons, he pondered, for the cool air, the pungent aromas of the falling leaves, the beautiful blaze of colors the forests erupted in. On these thoughts he reflected on until he reached the gates of the Masaki home. He looked up at the house to have all the good thoughts about the autumn shattered. A frown arched across Tenchi's face. He sighed then remembered that this time of the year marked the three-year anniversary of the coming of the Masaki home's unexpected house guests. Tenchi sighed again before stepping into the doorway and seeing what awaited him on the other side.  
To his surprise, the house was quiet. Tenchi poked his head into the living room to see what the muffled conversation he had heard while entering the door had been about. The conversation was in fact a talk show that had been left on the television by a snoring Ryoko, who laid sprawled on the futon. No doubt it had been left on after the daytime soap opera block both Ryoko and Ayeka watched religiously. Tenchi though about waking Ryoko up, but just then, the delicious smell of poultry being cooked sent his stomach growling. I haven't eaten since lunch, he thought to himself; I'm absolutely famished.  
The smell led Tenchi into the kitchen, where he found a busy Sasami and Mihoshi, both preparing a gigantic supper. Mihoshi, who was being coached by Sasami on cooking strategies, was the first to notice Tenchi in the doorway.  
"Hi Tenchi!" she said in a loud, cheerful voice, causing Sasami to turn around and smile at him.  
"Hi girls, but try to keep it down, Ryoko's asleep,"  
"Oh, she's been asleep almost all day, she needs to be woken up," said Sasami in a slightly playful voice.  
"Did she over sleep again?" Tenchi said, little questioning in his voice.  
"She said it's her beauty rest," said Mihoshi, chopping peppers as she talked.   
"She really needs it," said a rather cynical Ayeka from a room over, "Did you have a nice time at school today Tenchi?"  
"I heard that," said a groggy voice from the living room.  
"Ryoko, I can't see why you have to constantly sleep. Lord Tenchi has arrived from school, and you lay there like a slug on moss."  
"I'll show you what a slug can do," Ryoko shot back, fire replacing fatigue in her eyes.  
Sasami, sensing a growing tension, piped up and said, "Why don't you go into town and grab some things for dessert. This should help you out," and handed a slip of paper to Ayeka.  
"Does Lord Tenchi wish to accompany me to the store?"  
"Ummm," Tenchi thought, "I have a lot of homework I should start, I'd come if I could, but it's a lot of work, and..." Tenchi trailed off as Ayeka came closer to him.  
"Are you suuurrreee you can't make it? We could stop at one of those cafes and get something to eat, or we could--" Ayeka was interrupted by a pushy and demanding Ryoko.  
"Tenchi should stay here with me, we could go to the carrot fields and have a picnic--" Now Ryoko was interrupted by a mad and demanding Sasami.  
"Go now, Ayeka! Tenchi can stay with me and help with dinner."  
Both Ryoko and Ayeka exchanged slight growls and stares, but then it was over when Sasami whisked Ayeka on her chore and sent Ryoko, alone, to the carrot fields to pick some carrots for Ryo-Okie and supper.  
The trip to town was fairly uneventful. Ayeka had to wear many more layers then she's used to, because of the shear cold of the day. Her look reminded her of a picture she had once seen of a woman called a geisha that walked the streets of Japan. The main piece of geisha-like clothing that Ayeka wore in her ensemble was a large obie to tie all of her heavy garments together. Geisha had been long gone from the streets of rural Japan, so she guessed the looks of disbelief were because of her lookalike persona.  
When Ayeka reached the small bake shop, she dug around in her purse for the list and retrieved it. The first thing on the list that was needed was three large, plain rice cakes. Ayeka found these with reasonable ease, for they were freshly baked and were advertised all over the small shop.  
The second thing was to get a large container of chocolate frosting, which toke a little time to find. After much snooping, Ayeka gave up trying to look for it herself and finally asked the clerk for assistance. The clerk worked quickly to find the frosting, and then offered to find the other supplies on Ayeka's list. She humbly gave him the list and he ran to the back of the store without a sound.   
Ayeka pawed through the little shop, looking at all the little gadgets for cooking and cleaning. All of these separate devices made her appreciate having a sister that knew how to use them all. Before she could start to think about how some of these wacky looking devices worked, the clerk was ringing up the amount at the front desk. Ayeka saw the amount for the listed items and paid for them out of the money Sasami had handed her as she went out the door. She left with the two small bags and opened the door and left, the door giving a friendly jingle as it closed.  
  
"Wow, I'm getting a huge reading from...," a dark haired man said to a blonde woman, "over there," he said, pointing towards the direction of the bake shop.  
"What do you think it is?" Asked the woman standing next to him.  
"Well, it almost looks Jurian, the power is through the roof," he said, looking into a small screen on a cell phone-sized computer.  
"Let me see that, it must be broken."  
"No, look, it's really high. Trust me, I don't believe it anymore then you do, but I think there might be a Jurian on the planet," the man said in a pleading tone.  
"Well, it's worth a look at anyway."  
  
The two found Ayeka walking up the street to a small dirt road. The man nodded to the woman and he darted into the shadows of late afternoon.  
"Hey," the woman called, "Were does this road head?"  
Ayeka turned around and was about to say something, but a hand shot over her mouth, hindering her speech.   
The man in a husky, low down voice said instantly afterwards, "Scream and die, girl."  
The woman pulled out a small gun and pointed it to Ayeka's forehead. Ayeka's eyes grew huge with fear as tears started to trickle down her face. She saw her life flash before her eyes right before the woman in front of her pulled the trigger on the small gun, sending a jolt of white light flowing around her head, just below her hairline. A limp Ayeka then fell into the arms of the dark haired man, her mind covered by a deep sleep, almost comatose, as the man slung her over his shoulder and began to walk with the woman in the opposite direction of the Masaki home.   
  
Ohhh, cliffhanger. Well, all the gang is here, with the exception of Ayeka. What happened to her? What does Seaguar have to do with this? Could he be connected with Ayeka's disappearance? Read on to find out! And again, send all questions, comments, and criticisms to Fullcircle420@aol.com. Thank you and read on.   
  



	3. Default Chapter Title

(1. Andrew H. Coel   
2. Fullcircle420@aol.com  
3. Into The Crosshairs: Chapter 2  
4. Regular Fan Fiction  
5. Ayeka's freak disappearence joins the girls together to look for her. But someone else is planning to meet the group, and they DON'T come in peace...)  
  
OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Tenchi Muyo!. I just added them into my story to add plot. They are owned by Pioneer and AIC. I am not looking for a lawsuit, so don't sue me. Thank you. And now...  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Sasami sat next to the window until she fell asleep there after waiting nearly 6 hours for Ayeka's return. Washu, on the way to the kitchen, saw Sasami hunched against the windowsill a little after midnight. She tried to wake Sasami up, but all Washu got in response were a series of mumbled words and sighs. Washu was in the middle of a development, and she did not want to loose her current thought, so she decided to leave Sasami there if she wasn't going to move. It didn't take a scientific mind to know if someone wasn't willing to do something, that they shouldn't try to push him or her if it wasn't necessary.   
Sasami woke the next morning to the probing eyes of Ryo-Okie starring back at her. She looked outside and realized she was not in her bed. It took her a minute to realize where she was, and yet another minute to realize what she was doing there. When she put the pieces together, she burst from the windowsill and dashed towards Ayeka's room.  
Sasami starred in horror and confusion at Ayeka's perfectly made bed. Thoughts raced through her mind. Where could she be? I doubt she got lost over night. Maybe someone else knows...  
Sasami almost tackled Mihoshi as she walked through the hall. "Have you seen my sister?"  
"Well, I saw her yesterday, and then she left for something, and then, um, she, um, and, well, I don't think I've seen her anywhere, but I could be wrong, you should try aski-"  
Mihoshi couldn't even finish her thought, which could have taken the better part of an hour, before a light went on in Sasami's mind. Tenchi's room. Sasami had seen Ayeka asleep in his room a number of times before.  
She darted down two doors to "Lord," as Ayeka called him, Tenchi's room. She gazed with the same confusion-laden look she had given Ayeka's room as she did Tenchi's. The bed made, Tenchi's school clothes laid out, and no sight of her sister. Oh my gosh, she thought, I have to tell someone.  
Sasami almost took flight when she ran head-long down the stairs to the living room. The first person she spotted anywhere was Katsuhito, sipping a cup of tea.  
"Where's my sister?" she practically babbled.  
"I really don't know, I haven't seen her this morning. Why, is she missing?"  
"Yes! She, she left yesterday afternoon and didn't come home last night!"  
"Well, where would she have gone?" asked Nobuyuki from the living room, while eating breakfast.  
"I have no idea! It's not like my sister to just vanish! She must be in trouble, or involved in something. I couldn't see her just taking off and not letting us know!"  
"Sounds like we have to mount a search party. Sasami, you get everyone together, and I'll phone the police."  
Sasami raced around the house to collect all the girls and recruit them as volunteers. Everyone in the household, with the exception of Tenchi, who was already late for school, Nobuyuki, who was already late for work, and Katsuhito, who wasn't late for anything, but just didn't think it was his business or problem, was more then willing to help in the search. Even Washu decided to join, after a few seconds of tinkering in the lab with a Jurian Power Detect-o-rama, which she was excited to try.  
The walk into town was rather uneventful, with Sasami being the harbinger of the group, scouting every place until they reached to town. Ryoko was rather bored and tired, Mihoshi thought it was a load of laughs that Ayeka was gone, and Washu just walked and starred at the small screen in her hand that let off a beep every four or five seconds. Washu had thought she had figured everything out; were she would look; how she would look; and how fast it would take to find the lost Ayeka. She thought her calculations were right, but not even the greatest scientific mind could have predicted the way things were about to turn.  
  
"Hey, check this out," said a rather muscular man to his smaller partner, "I'm picking up Jurian energy."  
"So, it is true then, there are two Jurians on this planet."  
"Yeah, I guess so, you think we oughta go after them?" said the muscular man, in slightly slurred speech.  
"Yes, we shall proceed to capture the Jurian, and then we might be able to have a little fun with her and her friends. Nisha and Gopejio thought they had gotten some status in our organization when they brought the purple-haired Jurain in, but we shall show them, when we return with a Jurian and some of her friends!" the smaller, obviously smarter man said, as he laughed a painfully morbid laugh.  
  
"Well, let's split up, we will cover more ground," announced Washu when the gackle of girls entered into town. "Sasami, and myself in one group, Mihoshi and Ryoko will be in the second. Lets go, and we will meet by that clock," Washu said, pointing to a large white-faced clock, "at three o'clock. Everyone straight? Then lets move out." And with that, the two groups headed in opposite directions.  
  
"Okay, lets surround the group with the Jurian first, take her, and if we need the rest, we'll get them later," said the smarter man. "They don't have very high power levels, so it will be a snap."  
  
"Looks like we have the second Jurian in this town, no doubt looking for there companion,'' another man said to himself as he was perched on top of a two-story merchant's building in the interior of the town. The morning sun hit his back, reminding him of how nice it is to be alive. One should never take being alive for granted, he thought. "I am a very lucky man to be alive on this day," the man said to himself quietly as he typed on his small hand-held computer. He spent a minute or two typing at it, mumbling things to himself. He collapsed his computer and stashed it in the pocket of his cargo pants. The man, his short, blonde hair now covered with a floppy backwards baseball cap, opened a door and descended down a flight of stair down to the streets below.  
  
Washu starred at her holotop as she waited outside a small shop for Sasami to finish interrogating the owner to find out if he had seen her sister. My god, she thought, I've never seen a power level so high out of an earthling. Oh my, it's coming this way! "Ryoko," Washu called telepathically, "could you come here and take a look at this for a minute?"  
Ryoko hummed in from her spot on a bench next to a sleeping Mihoshi to see what her mother had inquired her assistance in. She looked at Washu, and then at the screen on the holotop. "Ryoko, have you ever seen a power level so high? It is just a hair lower then 3400. I've never seen someone with such a high power reading on this planet. I don't believe they come in peace, either.  
"Neither do I, I'll grab Sasami, and we'll back out of here."  
Just then, a disappointed Sasami moaped out of the store. "No luck," she said in a soft, quivering voice.  
"Well, we have a problem, we have some very powerful visitors, and we need to get home. NOW," said Washu, her voice slowly rising in seriousness.   
"But, we haven't eve-," Sasami started, but her protest was cut off by a loud, powerful voice.  
"I'm real sorry, we can't let you go home," said the big, muscular man.  
"True, we can not allow that, we have orders to take the Jurian with us," said the smaller man from the other side of the girls.  
Acting solely on instinct, Ryoko fired up her saber, the deep orange blade extending from her hand.   
The smaller man rose two fingers towards Ryoko, "I am going to be frank with you: any resistance will result in your death. Am I clear on that?" His arm tightened, and Ryoko grasped her sword wrist. The saber flickered, and then disappeared, as Ryoko fell to her knees, screaming in pain as she held her wrist.  
The larger man approached Sasami and Washu. "Here's the Jurian," he said, towering in front of little Sasami. "We are going to have a lot of fun together," he bellowed as he grabbed Sasami's arm and began to walk away.  
  
Well, well, well, looks like more mystery plagues this story. Who are these men? Do they have a relationship with the diabolical Seaguar Haphin? Who the hell is Seaguar Haphin? To find out, you must read on! As always, send all questions, comments, and criticisms to Fullcircle420@aol.com. Thank you and read on.   



End file.
